EPA to Hold Public Listening Session Nov. 8 in Philadelphia on Reducing Carbon Pollution from Existing Power Plants

PHILADELPHIA (November 5, 2013) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public listening session in Philadelphia on Friday, Nov. 8 to solicit input from the public and stakeholders about the Clean Air Act approaches to reducing carbon pollution from existing power plants. Power plants are the nation’s largest stationary source of carbon pollution, responsible for about one-third of all greenhouse gas pollution in the United States.

The listening session will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the William J. Green Federal Building, 600 Arch Street. Originally scheduled for early October, the session was rescheduled due to the government shutdown.

This in one of 11 sessions being held across the country as part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan that takes steps to cut the harmful carbon pollution that contributes to a changing climate. EPA will use feedback from the sessions to help develop emission guidelines for states to follow when preparing plans for reducing carbon pollution from existing power plants. The agency will seek additional public input during the notice and comment period once it issues a proposal, by June 2014.

The Clean Air Act gives both EPA and states a role in reducing air pollution from power plants that are already in operation. The law directs EPA to establish guidelines, which states use to design their own programs to reduce emissions. Before proposing guidelines, EPA must consider how power plants with a variety of different configurations would be able to reduce carbon pollution in a cost-effective way.